Hi to all, I have come across this useful piece of information for people with early convicts whose marriage was recorded in Parramatta but may in fact have occurred on Norfolk Island. Taken from "Norfolk Island 1788-1813 The People and their Families" by James Hugh Donohue Unfortunately, neither Rev. Richard Johnson's nor Rev. James Bain's Norfolk Island Registers have survived. It appears that they did record their ceremonies. Many Norfolk Island people were found among St. John's (Parramatta) records. It could not be clearly determined in some cases whether the parties were in fact in Parramattta or on Norfolk Island at the time mentioned. However, in the short time (48 hours) he was on Norfolk Island, according to Rev. Johnson's report to Lieutenant Governor King mentioned in Historical Records of Australia, he married up to 100 couples living in common law relationships or courting. It was the practice, until 1810, for the island's records to mention children of convicts by their mother's surname rather than the father's. In most instances that does help the researchers identify the mother but, unfortunately, does not provide any assistance in locating people later in life. The actual impact really was that when a researcher worked back through the records, he could not link particular parties to people who were on Norfolk Island. For example, in 1809 there was a young boy named John Anderson noted in Hobart. However, there was no Mr. or Mrs. Anderson in Hobart. Who was he and how did he get to Hobart? If a person is descended from John, he or she would be pleased to know that he was the son of two First Fleeters, but to establish that fact would be a Herculean task for the novice researcher. The realities were that John's father by 1809 was dead and his mother had remarried. His mother and step-father were Mr.+ Mrs. Francis Flexmore. John's father was John Anderson who arrived on the Scarborough in 1788. Just after his arrival he married Elizabeth Bruce who had arrived on the Lady Penrhyn. The couple had four children. John Snr died prior to the evacuation of the island. No wonder we get confused!! Carol